Will
by Sin of the Fallen
Summary: Drabbles. Kagome has finished her quest and is living in modern times, but she still attracts supernatural attention no matter where she goes. Whether it's the Will of Fate or the Will of the Vongola, doesn't matter. She's fated to find interesting times.
1. Sky

Sky

A/N: First attempt at this kind of series! From 64 Damn Prompts. Hitsusen- Loosely means Fate.

Tsuna was having a suspiciously peaceful day. No explosions, no gunshots, and no all out brawls to save the world or the mafia. He had even gotten an eighty on a math test. Most would be feeling on top of the world, but Tsuna _knew_ better. Paranoia had been shot into him by Reborn, making this one of his more unpleasant days. Waiting for the Apocalypse to occur every second tend to wear on the nerves and all that.

When school had let out Tsuna had legged it. Once out of the enclosed building, his paranoia had relaxed a little due to his Hyper Intuition kicking in. He knew that _something_ was going to happen today, something earthshaking and maybe in a good way. Distracted by his thoughts, Tsuna grunted as he walked into someone. Falling on top of the person, Tsuna inwardly cursed himself before scrambling off while blushing furiously as he stuttered apologies. Then he locked eyes with the girl and froze. He was quite sure he had never seen a Japanese girl with eyes that looked as if they had been cut from the fabric of the sky. She smiled at him, increasing his blush and stutter, before taking his hastily offered hand. "S-sorry about that!" "It's fine. My name is Higurashi Kagome. What's yours?" Tsuna gulped before uttering shyly "Sawada Tsunayoshi." He eyed her blue blouse and blue-jeans with dismay; her blouse was quite dirty after being knocked into a puddle left from last night's rain. "I'm s-sorry about your blouse! If you want I can ask my mother to wash it for you…?" Tsuna almost flinched at the thought of the beautiful girl entering his madhouse of a home, but he knew he could not let her walk around with the blouse he had accidentally dirtied.

She giggled and caught the crook of his arm. "Thanks! I was worried about having to explain this to Momma, but now I won't have to!" Tsuna blushed some more and scratched the back of his neck nervously before beginning to walk down the road. "So how old are you?" Kagome asked. "Fifteen. You?" "Same. So tell me more about yourself? After all, Hitsusen declared that we should meet!" She added with a wink, and Tsuna's Hyper Intuition told him to reply honesty, that she was like him. One of the Sky, but she was just a little different than the others that belonged to the Sky. Tsuna relaxed and smiled at her, looking into her sky eyes that sparkled with happiness as her Will touched his.

He had not been looking for her, nor she him, and he was not too thrilled to introduce her to his insane Family…but he was sure this was a reward from Hitsusen like she had said earlier. Tsuna stood a little taller as he casually chatted with the beautiful girl, oblivious to a certain stalker that had once declared Reborn an innocent baby who was glaring death at both he and Kagome. He danced skillfully around the word 'mafia', and saw her eyes twinkle knowingly when he did so, but he told her much about him and his Family. How Reborn was a terrifying mentor of the highest caliber, how Bianchi's cooking was also terrifying, and so on. Kagome would giggle, chuckle, or laugh at his stories and during one of his descriptions of how Bianchi was forced to mask herself to see her brother, this one being a squirrel mask, she had nearly cried in laughter.

Once he was done she returned the favor, telling him all about her friends and pseudo family. While Kagome's list was smaller than his, it was more detailed and colorful as she described the daily slapping of Miroku via Sango or the nearly weekly smack down of InuYasha by his brother Sesshomaru. Tsuna had a hard time remembering when he had smiled so much before this, even as she danced around topics even more skillfully than he with a playful flickering Will, before he noticed they were in front of his door. They both started and laughed a bit at their surprise. Tsuna swung open the door and called out "I'm home! And I brought a friend!" He looked at her nervously, anxious that she might be offended by his presumption, but she gave him a dazzling smile. Tsuna relaxed before he heard a familiar high voice call out "Ciaossu! Who's this Dame-Tsuna?" He groaned lightly and face-palmed.

Reborn was home. Oh. Joy.


	2. Charm

Charm

A/N: No pairings yet, suggestions welcome.

Kagome was instantly charmed by the boy she had ran into. He was cute in a boyish way, and something about him just made her want to hug him. Simply, Sawada Tsunayoshi was _adorable_. And apparently living a double life like she had once. Kagome knew the signs of evasion and misdirection, she had enough practice in doing so it was now easy to spot, but Tsuna looked quite uneasy about lying or simply omitting information. A refreshing change from InuYasha, who either lied to her about Kikyo or omitted information he had given to Kikyo. When he had offered to get her blouse cleaned, her heart had filled with affection for the uncommonly decent male.

After suggesting that he should tell her about himself, she had found they were _very_ similar in subtle ways. Such as _how_ they came across their friends, also known as their future friends doing their damnedest to kill them on the first meeting. What had surprised her was the fact Tsuna had _power_ like, but unlike, hers. His felt more…defined and carefully sculpted into a masterpiece of a certain craft, and it felt as all encompassing as the sky. Her's was similar in a way with the all encompassing feel, but her's was more fluid and encompassed more than one specific set of traits. Kagome's miko Will opted to emulate the entire host of Sky Wills, instead of one though no one would see this for some time.

She found her Will interacting with his playfully, like two foxes playing tag. Kagome had been so engrossed with Tsuna verbally and spiritually she had been as surprised as Tsuna to see a door suddenly before them. He had opened it and had called out "I'm home! And I brought a friend!" before looking at her nervously. She had smiled; glad to think he considered her a friend already. She had missed the comradery that came from people who had experienced things few in this age had, something her friends in Tokyo could never provide.

From by her feet a high pitched voice spoke "Ciaossu! Who's this Dame-Tsuna?", causing Tsuna to groan and face-palm. She looked down to find a baby dressed in a slick black suit, likely Armani, and a fedora with an orange stripe. Perched on the brim of the fedora was a little green lizard of some sort, a spot of color on the baby with black spiky hair with curly sideburns and black eyes. Lightly she extended her Will, and found an immense golden Will. She smiled to cover her surprise, but she now knew who this must be. She bowed politely to the highly dangerous male and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Higurashi Kagome. You must be Reborn, Tsuna's tutor. He told me that you are of the highest caliber and his grades have never been better!" She smiled and watched the not-baby blink before jumping up to give Tsuna a roundhouse kick to his temple, making Tsuna scream a light "Hiii!", while muttering "Dame-Tsuna…" She blinked rapidly, now understanding why Tsuna had described Reborn as terrifying. He looked back to her and said, and somehow his voice seemed a bit deeper than a normal baby's "You're correct. I'm Reborn, the greatest hitman in the world and home tutor to Dame-Tsuna. How did Tsuna manage to bring home a beautiful girl home with him?" She blushed a bit. "We bumped into each other and he offered to get my blouse cleaned." Reborn's eyes sparkled in a way that suggested he would be visiting more pain upon Tsuna soon.

"I'll show you to Nana, she can loan you a shirt while your blouse is in the wash Kagome." Kagome followed the self-proclaimed hitman into the kitchen, sparing Tsuna an apologetic glance. Inside she found a small boy in cow print clothing with an afro with horns sticking out of it, a small Chinese girl, and a lightly humming woman by an active stove. Reborn explained to Nana the situation after introducing Kagome, occasionally nailing the afro child with a utensil to silence him. Tsuna's cheerful mother quickly took a liking to Kagome and gave her a light pink t-shirt, which was a little tight around her bust, while her blouse was being washed. Tsuna joined them after that, and stuck by Kagome as she continued telling him about her friends. Both of them were highly aware of Reborn's curious stare as she talked, feeling the weight of his curiosity like a kiloton boulder. Yet they ignored him successfully, until the front door slammed open to admit several of Tsuna's friends.

Tsuna groaned again before shooting Kagome a sheepish smile, making her grin lightly in understanding. The kitchen was invaded by several boys, one with slightly long silver hair, one with short spiky black hair, and one with short silver hair. The first was screaming at the one he dubbed "Baseball idiot" before engaging in a shouting match with the one that constantly screamed "EXTREME". However they stopped as soon as they saw her. Tsuna nervously stood up with a soft "Hiiii!" before introducing the trio to Kagome. "Everyone this is Higurashi Kagome, I met her today on the way home. Kagome, this is Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takashi, and Sasagawa Ryohei." She smiled at them. "It's nice to meet you!" Gokudera glared at her before declaring "Are you sure she's not another assassin Jyuudaime?" Kagome and Tsuna chocked, for different reasons, and Reborn glared at Gokudera for possibly alienating a potential ally. Kagome glared at him fiercely, making him shrink into himself. "What on Earth makes you think I am an _assassin out to kill Tsuna?_" Reborn hurriedly sent Gokudera flying out with a vicious kick, trying to avoid the alienation of the strange girl. He hopped onto the table and addressed her face to face. "Apologies for Gokudera's insolence. He's paranoid about Tsuna's wellbeing." Kagome's frown softened into a smile at the hitman, almost succeeding in making Reborn blush. "Thanks Reborn! That's so nice of you to apologize for that rude boy!"

Tsuna laughed nervously as he watched Kagome beam at the suddenly fidgeting hitman. It looked like he was not the only one she affected…


	3. Persephone

Persephone

A/N: Pairings? And watch out! There's a bit of a…twist. See if you can figure it out!

Reborn watched the girl Tsuna brought home with a deep interest. The hitman could easily tell the girl was powerful in Will, magnificently so. In fact Kagome possessed one of the strongest Wills he had come across, without even taking into account her gender. Yet for the life of him, Reborn could not tell _what_ Will type she had. And it was driving him insane with curiosity as only Tsuna before her had accomplished. Much like his clumsy student, there was so much more to Kagome than a cute face and a magnetic personality. Adjusting his fedora he watched her wander around Namimori's park, when she should be in school.

Reborn had been curious as to why she was not in school and had pulled her records last night, both legally and illegally. Higurashi Kagome was easily in the top two percent of her entire grade, displaying understanding that usually only came during the final year of high school. Her teachers had written commentary, not meant for anyone outside of education to see, that was…strange. They all said she was a bright, bubbly, naïve child before her fifteenth birthday but afterwards the commentary took a dramatic change. The teachers spoke of eerie behavior, which she hallucinated at times and would lash out at anyone who came near her except people with certain physical traits. Silver or white hair, purple eyes, pink eye shadow on a woman, orange hair, and cobalt eyes with black hair were the ones that gained the most results. During these times her words would become mixed with ancient Japanese that had been in use, at the earliest, five hundred years ago and she would murmur about 'samyosho' and many other things to whoever had the right attributes. Her family could provide no answers except that she had fallen down an old sacred well and had had a concussion, which had healed far too fast to be natural. Currently she was on a sort of sabbatical in Namimori with only her cat for company; Kagome had managed to pass her exams early with flying colors, which had let her finish the year early.

Reborn knew with a hunch that bordered on the Vongola Hyper Intuition that something _far_ out of the ordinary had happened to the girl and had marked her in ways that usually only wars, or mafia feuds, left. Without shame he eavesdropped on Kagome, trying to piece together the puzzle she presented, as she bent down and stared at a bed of flowers. "Did Sesshomaru ever find you Rin? Without InuYasha there to cut off his arm? I'd like to think so, because I think Fate was waiting to bring you to him. I've looked and looked everyone, but I can find no mention of the Killing Perfection and the Flower Child, the Cursed Monk, the Last Taijiya, the Orphaned Kitsune, the Spider Hanyo, or even the Shikon Miko." Reborn felt his heart squeeze in his chest as he watched her sob silently, remembering how Tsuna had looked when his Guardians had been injured during their Trials with the Varia. "Oh InuYasha, you were such a well meaning fool…Always with your heart in the right place as you destroyed whatever and whomever surrounded you. And look at you now, all of us never met each other and we all were left _alone_… with only me to remember what _truly_ happened." Absently she plucked flowers randomly, stringing them into wreaths of various sizes. Reborn heard Leon hiss sadly from his fedora, and Reborn agreed with Leon.

She made fourteen wreathes in all, making a circle on the emerald grass. "Happy anniversary Sesshomaru. Happy anniversary Rin. Happy anniversary Shippo. Happy anniversary Sango. Happy anniversary Miroku. Happy anniversary InuYasha. Happy anniversary Ah-Un. Happy anniversary Jaken. Happy anniversary Kagura. Happy anniversary Koga. Happy anniversary Kanna. Happy anniversary Kikyo. Happy anniversary Kaede. Happy anniversary everyone, today I alone celebrate the day that Naraku never died and we never triumphed. The day we never completed the accursed Jewel, the day InuYasha never made a wish, the day we would never live, the day we unknowingly said goodbye, the day that unraveled our families." She gave the flower wreathe circle a bittersweet smile. "If I was still old enough I would have brought the finest sake to commemorate this day, you'll have to excuse me everyone." She rose from her previous Indian style into the traditional seiza and clasped her hands while closing her eyes. Reborn thought with narrowed eyes 'Like a priestess of old.' "It's not traditional, but I'll do what I can everyone. May those who are dead rest in peace, never to be disturbed, and may those who still live know peace and prosperity for all their lives." Her Will ignited and became visible to the naked eye, sheathing her in Flame that oscillated in color continuously.

She stretched out her hands and burned the circle of wreathes to a fine silver ash with her Flame, startling Reborn. And then he watched as a perfect circle of fourteen different colored flowers grew far too quickly for anything other than unnatural assistance. Reborn watched with fascination that could have rivaled even Verde's, for he knew she was nowhere _near_ being part of the Shimon famiglia's Earth Flames. No. Kagome was one of the Sky's, the Vongola's, and Reborn knew this with certainty even if no one else did yet. Leon flicked out his tongue and hissed to his partner, making up Reborn's mind for him. Reborn watched the solemn girl with dark eyes full of avarice. 'Persephone will make an excellent addition to the Vongola Decimo's generation, and I'm sure this will be the one recruitment Tsuna won't fuss about. Now to find out how to secure her loyalty, and to contact Nono with this new information. Perhaps Nono will know something about her Dying Will Flames.' Without a word Reborn vanished, and Kagome failed to notice.


	4. Laugh

Laugh

A/N: Parings suggestions anyone? Go vote on my poll!

Kagome glanced to the sun's position in the sky and knew that Tsuna and his friends would be out of school soon. Ignoring the fact she had an accurate watch which could give a more accurate time than the sun's position, she got up from the park's ground and started to make her way to Namimori Middle at a brisk trot. Idly she reflected on how simple details, such as preferring to check the sun's position instead of her watch's display, now set her apart from those in her birth time. Though in the feudal era her watch had broken often enough for her to become accustomed to looking to the sky for answers, Kagome still found it odd sometimes to see television or a cooking stove. She giggled at herself, remembering how her pseudo family would have reacted to such devices her time boasted. 'Miroku would have put a sutra on the TV, Sango would have destroyed the phone, Shippo would have gone after Souta's old coloring books with Rin, and Sesshomaru would have stolen my lamp.' She giggled a bit more, happy to be able to think of them fondly without too much lingering sadness, not noticing that she was already arriving at the school.

Kagome squeaked and fell backwards as she collided into what felt like a brick wall, internally grumbling to herself about looking before running. She stood up and brushed off her shorts and looked to see what had knocked her over. It was someone about her age with straight inky black hair that fell into his gray eyes a bit. He was dressed in what looked to be a black school uniform with a badge tightly wrapped around one bicep. Whoever he was did not appear to be particularly pleased to have been bumped into. Kagome bowed politely, without any fear despite his murderous aura. "Sorry for bumping into you. I was on my way to meet up with some of my friends." He frowned. "Who are you? I do not recognize you from Namimori Middle." Kagome smiled at the taciturn male, ignoring the fact several yakuza looking lackeys were starting to surround the lanky male. "I'm Higurashi Kagome and I don't go to Namimori Middle, I'm here on sabbatical from Tokyo. My I have your name?" He raised an eyebrow. "Hibari Kyouya, leader of Namimori's Disciplinary Committee. Those who break the rules shall be bitten to death." Kagome gave an awkward twitter 'God's blood! Sesshomaru did you reincarnate already?' "I'm not breaking any rules by waiting here am I?" The male's stoic expression became filled with bloodlust and tonfas appeared from _somewhere_. "Yes you are herbivore."

Kagome's face grew deadpan as she placed her hands in her pockets and literally hopped around Hibari's attacks. 'So slow compared to youkai.' She thought lackadaisically, noting the steadily increasing bloodlust and irritation that his very body language echoed. Hibari let out a savage growl and took a swipe at her torso, barely grazing the t-shirt much to her surprise. "You're pretty strong Hibari." She took her hands out of her pockets, causing Hibari to pause, and thought back to Sesshomaru's advice. "_Should you find yourself without a weapon, use your power to protect critical areas, such as the neck and joints, and make your pathetic human fingers into youkai claws._" She let her Will flare and cover her neck and joints, knowing that Hibari would not stop at attacking such areas, and coating her hands. Her Will transformed her fingers into razor sharp claws and Kagome swiped at Hibari's unprotected left bicep which cut through the badge, the clothing, and two inches into the flesh beneath. He snarled in surprise, causing Kagome to smirk and purr with smug satisfaction "Still think I'm an herbivore?" Hibari growled again and leapt at her, causing her to crack all her knuckles at once menacingly as InuYasha would.

Before Hibari could make his move a gunshot rang out, causing both of them to leap backwards from each other and stare at the gunman. Reborn did not lower Leon as he stared at Hibari. "That's enough Hibari, you can fight Kagome latter when we have her inducted into the Family." Hibari snorted in amusement and muttered "Damn baby." before storing his tonfas back to wherever they had come from. Reborn turned to Kagome, who still was cloaked in her Will. She smiled sweetly at him. "Kagome would you mind meeting me back at Tsuna's? I have a proposition for you." Her eyes narrowed a tiny bit before she nodded happily, her Will dispersing. Reborn vanished once more, leaving Kagome to turn and see Tsuna gapping at her. "Hiiii! Kagome! Are you alright? Hibari didn't hurt you too badly right?" She grinned reassuringly at the adorable boy. "Mah, mah, Tsuna. I'm fine, neither of us got too serious over such a little scuffle." Tsuna looked at her with confusion, making Kagome resist the urge to squeal and hug the stuffing out of him. "But Hibari _always_ bites to death the people who upset him!" She giggled playfully, her Will idly poking his, and said "Hibari needs to work on his speed before he can hurt me!"

Tsuna sputtered in disbelief as they began to walk back to his house with a grumpy Gokudera and a cheery Yamamoto. Kagome simply giggled at him, which Tsuna firmly resisted the urge to blush at. However he blushed magnificently when she hugged him and stated "Aww! You're so sweet Tsuna!"


	5. Bright

Bright

A/N: Hibari has one vote! Vote for pairings and go vote on my poll!

Reborn was what one could consider a bright man that happened to be trapped in a baby's body. He was loyal, dedicated, sadistic, murderous, and even on occasion humorous with a dash of kindness sprinkled in. Yet, despite his innocent looks Reborn was extremely cunning. Nono had described the hitman to be 'cleverer than nine cats, more cunning than the wisest fox, and more slippery than a snake dipped in oil'. It fit Reborn quite well. So it came as no surprise to Timoteo that Reborn had become proactive in recruiting more members for Tsuna's Decimo Generation. At first the hitman had called him by satellite phone to request the records of a schoolgirl that had caught his eye; amusedly Timoteo had sent the records with a grin as he wondered if Reborn was trying to already find a Madonna for Tsuna. From her school photos she looked to be quite the beauty, making Timoteo feel like a dirty old man for a moment, but he had not looked too deeply due to more important matters.

When Reborn had contacted him with a video conference Timoteo knew there was something that was out of the ordinary, even for the ridiculously skewed view of ordinary of those who came into contact with the Vongola. The baby hitman had been frowning just a bit, dark eyes shining with excited curiosity. "Nono, how much do we know about the Dying Will Flames?" Timoteo was confused by such a question and let his puzzlement show on his face. "I'm asking Nono, because the girl I had you send me files of possesses a Will type I have never seen before. It seems to embody all the attributes of the Sky, and has no set color." Timoteo did not bother trying to hide his surprise, his bright mind working furiously to come up with an answer. "Are you sure about this Reborn?" The tiny hitman had nodded with all seriousness. "I think she would make an excellent addition to the Family Nono if I'm able to recruit her." Nono nodded distractedly and had agreed with Reborn before requesting time for research. After the conference Timoteo had called together his Guardians, and they all had been just as surprised as him. All of them had set out to hunt down the information they sought, but Timoteo's Intuition led him to a small novella left by the Primo and the rest of his Generation. Giotto Vongola had not liked to be surprised, not even by his own inherent Will. He and the rest of his Generation had sought answers as to how they could draw forth physical manifestations of their Will for years. Their search had been limited by the constraints of their time period, but they had managed to gather at least the crucial bare bones.

Apparently Dying Will Flames were a product of evolution, due to unknown factors and other possible unknown variants. Giotto had theorized along with G and Daemon that their Will types were a product of bloodlines being refined to produce Wills with certain elements and traits. Rain Wills tended to naturally marry and have children with other Rain Wills due to disposition, exceptions excluded, and so forth. Eventually the bloodlines would produce an entirely new Will far removed from the Original or Primal Will, and they discounted natural Wills spontaneously occurring in previously bereft bloodlines. Alaude and Asari had theorized differently from the others. The duo had come to the conclusion that Wills had nothing to do with bloodlines and more to do with personality and life experiences. While they had accepted there was a more probable chance of Will in certain bloodlines they had argued that many Wills came from seemingly nowhere, therefore bloodlines had little to due with Will. They had pointed out that in the Guardians none had come from a Will bearing bloodline, but each had certain experiences and traits that were similar to others of their Will type. So they had guessed a burgeoning Sky Will, due to the Harmonious aspect, could be devolved to the Original Will by exposing it to experiences that would help to shape other Wills and cause traits that were exclusive usually to a certain Will. Neither theory had been proven but it was the best they had to go on.

Timoteo had contacted Reborn and had sent him the two theories along with more recent observations made by himself and his own Generation. Timoteo and his Guardians had agreed that if the Primal Will resurfaced in a person, despite having all the Sky traits, the Primal's traits would be slightly weaker and more unrefined than a specific set of traits confined to a certain Will. Reborn had contacted him a few days later and had replied the girl did indeed possess what seemed to be the Original or Primal Will, and had demonstrated she was proficient in using several aspects of the Will such as Storm's Disintegration and Sun's Regeneration. Timoteo had smiled a nearly predatory smile along with Reborn, not really succeeding due to a lack of practice. "Reborn I fully authorize bringing in Higurashi Kagome as a member of the Decimo Generation. Let me know if you manage to convince her." Reborn had smiled a satisfied smile before cheerfully, almost chirping, replying "Of course Nono! I'll let you know how it goes today. Hopefully as bright as Kagome seems to be, she won't refuse such an advantageous offer." Nono had laughed a bit nervously at the sadistic look on Reborn's face. For being aligned with such a cheerful element, the Sun Arcobaleno was very…dark indeed. Nono wondered if he should warn Tsuna of Reborn's upcoming recruitment before internally shrugging it off. The boy was practically the Primo incarnate, there was no need to worry was there?


	6. Connection

Connection

A/N: Sin-sama is so fly~ Hibari-2 Xanxus-1 Reborn-1

Reborn tried not to be impatient, really he did. However, Reborn was not the most patient of men let alone the Arcobaleno. That spot would probably be Fon's. He was almost nervous, almost since Reborn did not do _nervous_, about Kagome. The girl could fight and possessed Primal Will, but she was a wild card. Her records held little consistency regarding her personality after her concussion, which meant Reborn had no idea how to pitch this in a favorable light. Even Hibari and Mukuro had possessed defining traits that had shown him how to make his offers acceptable to the strange boys. Reborn took a soothing sip of his cappuccino, the caffeine settling his nerves with it's familiar taste. Nana could make a cappuccino to put even the most celebrated chefs to utter shame, much to his not oft voiced appreciation. His keen mind turned back to the matter at hand.

From what he could garner from his observations of the potential member, he knew she possessed loyalty that ran into the very marrow of her bones along with a sweet disposition. She seemed to be basically a Tsuna that had grown some confidence and a backbone, physical traits aside. Yet Reborn knew he would not be able to terrify her into joining the Vongola as he had with Tsuna at first. If she did not react to Hibari, aside from calm surprise, she would not likely be easily cowed by terror and bullets. Reborn frowned and petted a purring Leon, trying to find that crack in her shell that would allow his success. Reborn thought of her hallucinations, but instantly dismissed the idea on the grounds it would be infinitely more likely to drive her off. However he remembered the fact she was noted to be a social creature before the concussion, and thought to himself 'Would she be drawn to the idea of a Family of comrades? Now that I think about it she seemed a bit lonely, and she responded to Tsuna's advances of friendship a bit too eagerly for someone noted as having several friends.' Smirking in triumph, Reborn settled onto a fluffy pillow in contentment, falling into a light nap until the one he awaited to come home.

When the door slammed open and Tsuna's cheerful greetings rang out along with Gokudera's curses and Yamamoto's laughter, Reborn knew the quartet were finally at the Sawada residence. Quickly he hopped down from his pillow and made his way down the stairs in search of his prey. It did not take him long to spot the laughing girl who sat at the table by Tsuna, Primal Will dancing around and playfully messing with the three Sky Wills, coaxing smiles from the boys around her. "Ah! Gokudera you would have loved it! The man was a genius truly, despite being despicable, and actually managed to make a man into an android tank!" Gokudera's eyes lit with a light that Tsuna and Yamamoto feared, for it meant Gokudera would soon launch into lecture mode, but Reborn landed on Kagome's left shoulder and interrupted the conversation. "Ah Kagome, would you mind having that meeting now?" She turned to him curiously, lips curved into a puzzled smile. "Sure. Where to Reborn?" "Upstairs please." Without a word of protest she gracefully stood and almost bounced her way up the stairs. Reborn guided her from her shoulder to the unused guestroom, and she oddly responded as if she had had a baby sized being direct her from her shoulder before. Reborn smirked 'Yet another mystery around this girl.'

He hopped off her shoulder, noting she never tried to help him as if she expected him to possess such dexterity, and landed on the bed before patting the spot next to him. She obeyed and sat down Indian style on the bed, facing Reborn with a curious intent. Reborn gave her a smirk and explained. "As I stated before I am Reborn the greatest hitman in the world. I work for the mafia, or more specifically the Vongola Family. Tsuna is the next boss of my Family and his friends are to be his Guardians." He noted she calmly accepted this information with a hint of a smile. "You guys never seemed normal anyways, being apart of the mafia isn't really that surprising." Reborn concealed his surprise well. "The reason I called you up here is to ask if you would like to join Tsuna's Family. You wouldn't be a Guardian but you would be Family." A wistful look alighted upon her face. "Family huh? That sounds…nice. I've missed the connections comrades have." Reborn smirked triumphantly at the fact he had been correct about her loneliness. "So your choice is?" She gave him a beatific smile that actually set his heart to fluttering a bit at it's luminous nature, bringing Luce to mind. "I would very much like to join the Vongola Reborn." He truly smiled and simply said "Welcome to the Family Kagome." Without another word he hopped into her open arms, surprising himself at just comfortable he was there, and they went back downstairs to find an anxious trio in the living room.

Reborn smiled placidly at Tsuna and his Guardians, feeling sleepy in Kagome's embrace, and stated "We have a new Family member Tsuna. Welcome Kagome to the Vongola Family!" "Hiiii!" "_What_." "Haha! Looks like Chrome's no longer the only girl!" Tsuna gaped at the girl "K-kagome did Reborn force you?" She smiled and shook her head as she gave a happy hum. "Nope. I wanted to. Being in a Family sounds lovely, just my cup of tea." Tsuna failed unenthusiastically, secretly wanting Kagome to join but feeling he should at least warn her. "But-but we're always in life threatening situations!" She hummed a pleased sound before saying with a peaceful voice. "Then it's no different than what I'm used to." The Decimo Generation gaped at her calm words, while Reborn opened one calculating eye. 'Do you ever run out of mysteries Kagome?' He thought to himself amusedly. He had the feeling his answer was 'no'.


	7. Fight!

Fight!

A/N: Hibari-4 Reborn(My personal favorite)-3 Xanxus-2 Yamamoto-1 Tsuna-1 Mukuro-1 Vote for pairings and go vote on my poll! NOTE! Kagome's WEAPON and BOX WEAPON have NOT BEEN DETERMINED so you can GIVE YOUR OPINION IN A REVIEW!

* * *

Reborn looked at the assembled Guardians with a smug look from Kagome's shoulder; most were giving Kagome curious looks. What had surprised everyone, except Reborn, was that Mukuro had shown for the event instead of Chrome. The pineapple haired male was ogling Kagome like an exquisite piece of meat, when he was not ogling Tsuna, causing Tsuna to almost _frown_ at the trident wielder.

Reborn quickly fired off a shot to draw their attention, making another note that Kagome did not even flinch at the sound going off by her ear, and said with authority "I had you all gather here today to welcome your new Family member, Higurashi Kagome." That garnered surprised looks from the uninformed, a bloodlust filled one from Hibari, and a _lusty_ one from Mukuro. Kagome smiled at them and gave a victory sign in perfect innocence. "As you all know, in the Vongola the tradition of welcoming a new member is to brawl to see if they are worthy enough to fight alongside us." Tsuna squeaked in fear. "After I fire again, the fight will start! On my mark!" Reborn hopped off Kagome's shoulders and in mid-leap fired Leon. At once the sound of weapons being drawn and Wills igniting filled the air.

"Remember guys, I bruise easily!" Kagome called out as her Will quickly covered the usual areas as she dodged a stab from a trident, only to be forced to twirl away from a sword. Unlike Tsuna, Kagome was _not_ a hand to hand specialist or a boxer like the one with Reborn's element. But she did have one advantage over the entire collective, sheer speed. Calling her Will to infuse the very sinews of her lower body she became too fast to catch at their current rate of speed. Kagome used trees to take blows for her and tried her hardest to stay far away from the hand to hand fighters, because she was not kidding when she said she bruised easily. She flinched as a tonfa brushed her cheek the same time a trident skimmed her shirt; they were getting fast enough to get close at her current speed. Kagome's eyes hardened and her Will flared with wildly shimmering colors, making her attackers pause for a moment. Her Will settled onto a red color and she threw herself at the boxer's unprotected back, only to meet Gokudera who held dynamite. Eyes widening at the sight of explosives, Kagome jumped over the two and went after Tsuna. Tsuna's orange eyes were cool and calm as he threw a flaming punch, only for his wrist to be caught by Kagome's red claws that instantly sliced into the tendons while the tissue surrounding the wound began to turn black. He hissed in pain before throwing the lighter girl into Mukuro's path, who promptly trapped her in an illusion.

As the world began to melt and shift violently Kagome hissed like a wet cat before sinking multicolored claws into the bubble, trying to shred it from the inside out. She yowled in pain as her ribs snapped and cracked from a solid blow. Abandoning the illusion she blindly swiped at the body she knew was close, and felt her fingers become soaked in blood as a loud voice voiced it's displeasure. Assured that she was currently not under attack Kagome drove a claw into her thigh, shocking the Guardians speechless. Reborn watched her with shocked eyes, unsure of what on Earth could cause her to injure herself, but when her eyes focused he understood. 'So she used the shock of self-inflicted pain to force her brain to break the illusion. Clever.'

The Guardians, except for a stunned Mukuro, did not know that the illusion was broken yet but when she launched at Yamamoto they knew Mukuro's illusion had shattered. Kagome copied Sesshomaru and sank her fingers into the swordsman's unprotected torso, but refrained from injecting her Will into the wound unlike Sesshomaru. Hearing Tsuna's shout of concern and the other's various growls, Kagome quickly retracted her fingers and booked it. She needed to heal her ribs if she was going to win this fight.

* * *

Kagome panted as she hid, yellow colored claws wrapped firmly around her middle. 'God's blood! Damn that boxer!' She thought viciously as her Will shifted her ribs into place before beginning the excruciating process of healing, making her let loose a small scream of pain. By the time she was done, twenty minutes had passed and she was covered in pained sweat. Silently she cursed as she heard pursuers crashing through the underbrush; standing was getting a bit tough after the intensive healing. As the trident wielder, boxer, and Hibari appeared she cursed aloud before compressing her will into a discus. Hurriedly she flicked her wrist and sent it flying at the illusions master before she launched herself at Hibari. "Is it me, or are you getting slower Hibari?" Hibari growled at her before wildly attacking where she had last stood, the other two distracted by the flying discus that refused to dissipate. "My, you _are_ getting slower!" Hibari was truly enraged now, and upped his performance rate as much as he could before trying to get the slippery girl. He cursed violently as he missed the girl. "Looks like you aren't _that_ slow, but everyone's got a long way to go!" Hibari did not even see her foot move, let alone see it roundhouse him into a tree, and an unlucky tree branch assured he would be napping for awhile. He would swear it was the branch of a sakura tree later. "Kufufufufufu…Kagome you are as interesting as Tsunayoshi." She cocked her head at the pineapple as her discus was destroyed by a lucky punch. "Why do I have the feeling you're about to say something about taking my body?" Both the pineapple and boxer looked sucker punched. She wrinkled her nose. "Ew. What the hell is with people and wanting to take my body? Later creepy!" She gave the two a sloppy salute, before leaving only a dust trail as she took a page from Koga's book. She dodged a grenade or two on her way, and she shot a glare at her attacker which made the cow-child break down crying. She wondered why there was a cow-child in the fight.

* * *

Soon she found Reborn in a tree, with a surveillance system, and asked "I passed right?" Reborn smirked "With flying colors, though it was shameful how the Vongola were beaten so. They will be starting speed training tomorrow." Kagome smiled. "Ah, we might want to go treat Yamamoto now…" Reborn leapt down into her waiting arms before replying "No need. Ryohei took care of him before coming after you." She looked down at the hitman "Which one was he?" "The loud one." She smiled "Ah! Tsuna's going to be fine right?" Reborn waved a hand lazily as Kagome's soothing aura took affect. "Shamal swung by, after I threatened him with a bit of blackmail, he'll be fine. And Kagome?" She gave a curious 'Hmm?' and Reborn frowned "Watch out for Hibari. You've probably sparked his interest."


	8. Below

Below

A/N: The results are in! Hibari and Reborn will fight over Kagome, with Reborn winning most likely due to the fact he can overpower Hibari and actually knows how to go about romantic endeavors. I could change my mind though! Xanxus will be…intrigued by Kagome's temper. Mukuro will be his usual perverted self. Yamamoto and Tsuna will be brotherly. BoxWeapon and Weapons have been determined. Voting is done except for my poll!

* * *

Reborn watched Tsuna and his Guardians with a critical eye, trying to see how they failed in speed as Kagome had said. They were exceptionally swift for their power and age, but none of them could lay a hand on Kagome when she upped her speed. And it was not like he expected them to rival _his_ speed. Annoyed he barked "Faster!" and fired multiple bullets at everyone, even Hibari and Chrome. He turned to Kagome, who sat next to him, and asked "What did you do to become so fast?" She turned to him and shrugged. "I had a hard master. Survival." Reborn frowned harshly at the thought. Reborn was a man of Old World fashions, believing it was the male's job to protect the females though it was their decision to fight or not. He could not think of anywhere that would require such speed to be necessary. "You know… I was below quite a few in speed." Reborn raised an eyebrow at her, impressed she could admit such and curious as to whom was faster than her.

Reborn asked with curiosity "Just how fast can you go Kagome?" She smiled a secretive smile and raised a finger to her lips as she winked. "You'll see when the fighting starts up." Reborn turned back to his student and his struggling Guardians, knowing that Kagome would eventually tell him if he did not prod. She had shown to be contrary like that with Gokudera, and so Reborn used the information accordingly. "Everything is too calm, too idyllic. Something's going to happen, and it's going to be big." Her tone lightened as she changed the subject. "Should I tell them how to do it?" Reborn shook his head. "No, I know how you did it, but they need the chance to discover it on their own. You can step in when it looks like someone's hopeless." Kagome shrugged and asked "Mind sparring with me? I need to work on attacking and defending, it's been awhile and I wouldn't want to be rusty when it hits the fan." Reborn nodded and jumped down from the mountain cliff they had been sitting on, landing lightly on his feet. He waited as everyone came to a panting halt. "You'll be your own for now while I go train with Kagome. Colonello should be here soon along with Dino; they're more suited for your speed now." Groans sounded from the exhausted crowd, except for Yamamoto's and Mukuro's tired laughter and Hibari's growls. "Be grateful I didn't call in Xanxus and the Varia." Reborn hopped up the cliff to Kagome, who waved goodbye before they headed into the forest

* * *

Reborn sat on a stump while Kagome sat on the grass in the clearing, both watching each other intently. "So Kagome, what do you normally fight with?" She looked surprised for a moment before laughing a bit. "Ah so you noticed huh? Usually I fight with modified Mark I trench knives as my primary weapon, but I also use modern push daggers as my secondary weapon." Reborn was surprised she used such close combat weapons, but with her speed she could easily get away with it. It was impressive, many opted for mid range to long range weaponry due to the fact they had no wish to dance with Death. Yet she spoke of her weapons as fondly as he spoke of Leon when they were nowhere to be found. "Where are they?" Her smile dimmed and faltered, making him feel like a heel. "They were destroyed and I am unable to find replacements of sufficient caliber." Reborn nodded in understanding, knowing just how hard it would be to find a gun of Leon's quality. "So hand-to-hand is not your specialty Kagome?" She shook her head.

Reborn sighed and stood, causing Kagome to stand as well. "Well there's no use to trying to teach you about hand-to-hand right now. Let's work on your Will. You can manifest it without aid, correct?" Kagome looked deeply offended and she huffed "I am _far_ past the point of having to rely on such things!" Angrily she summoned the full extent of her power, holding nothing back to use to boost her natural speed. Her usual Flame armor and claws emerged, but the Flames began to cover her arms and shins along with forming into three horns emerging equidistance from each other upon her brow. The most surprising feature was her eyes, the usual sky blue was replacing with glowing cyan in a style similar to Tsuna's orange Hyper Dying Will eyes. Reborn was surprised by her display of offended anger; her personality had not shown her as possessing such temper beforehand. "What do you mean you are far beyond that Kagome?" She bared her teeth at him, showing Flame sharpened dentals in a manner similar to a canine's, and spat "Only the weak need such to call forth their power." Reborn smirked at her, internally pleased he had found someone who agreed with he and his fellow Arcobaleno. "I was asking for, usually, most in the Vongola need such items." She reared back in surprise. "You're joking right Reborn?" "I'm afraid not." She smiled wearily, with Flaming teeth still too sharp, and said "Well that's a shame. Anyways I'm sorry for overreacting. Ready to spar?" Reborn smirked "Of course."

* * *

Kagome panted with exhaustion, barely able to stand after such a spar. She had known beforehand Reborn was impossibly powerful for a human, but now she would grant him the rank of a human Dai. Reborn would be able to tackle _Sesshomaru_ on fairly even standards, though Kagome would put her bet behind Sesshomaru. "Why couldn't you have been born when Naraku was around?" Reborn's head whipped around to stare at the exhausted Primal Will bearer. She had been an extremely unusually good sparring partner for one not of the Arcobaleno and for one who had not been fighting with her usual weapons. Of course Kagome would not be able to come close to beating him for some time, but the fact that it was _possible_ was…exciting. But her sentence made no sense; she was younger than he after all. Something told him this was _important_ and Kagome's horrified face said she had never meant to say it out-loud. Reborn quickly made his way over to the panicking woman and intruded into her personal space greatly.

"What do you mean Kagome by you 'wish I had been born when Naraku was around'?"


	9. Missing Time

Missing Time

A/N: Unfortunately for those who asked, it is _very_ unlikely any other InuYasha characters will come into play. This chapter explains all.

* * *

Reborn watched the panicking girl closely, not caring that he was almost literally in her face and so close he could easily pick out his reflection in her cyan orbs. He did not understand her, and Reborn hated that. He understood all, everyone's motivations and hopes all the way down to their deepest terrors. Tsuna was simply an anomaly, but Kagome was the Gorgon knot; impossible to unravel. Reborn grew frustrated at the fact something about this girl drew him to her, something that refused to let his attention return to it's usual contemplations. His pacifier glowed with his emotions as Reborn gave a growl to Kagome that usually his current body could not produce, and her reaction was as odd as everything else about her. The growl calmed her, causing the unthinking terror to subside and allowing her to look into his eyes once more. "Tell me!" Reborn demanded, not knowing his shadow had reverted to what it once was. However Kagome noticed with wide eyes as she looked to the glowing pacifier and the shadow and connected a few dots. "Alright, I'll tell you. But Reborn you have to promise you'll believe me!" Reborn snorted in derision. "As long as you tell the truth I'll keep an open mind Kagome." She shifted uneasily before clearing her throat and replacing him on his tree stump.

She watched her clawed hands as she spoke. "It all started on my fifteenth birthday, I was pulled into Japan's Feudal Era by a youkai resurrected by the Shikon no Tama which resided in my body at the time. I didn't know I had it, I only knew there was a youkai from my nightmares that screamed "Give it to me!" and I panicked and unleashed my Will for the first time by severing one of her arms. It only spiraled downwards from there as I kept wandering around in this insane Wonderland-esque land…" She slowly told him of InuYasha, of Shippo, of Miroku, of Sango, and of Sesshomaru and his pack. Reborn listened without a word as keen black eyes watched for any sign of deception, but he could see she was either a better liar than he or she was telling the truth. Kagome described how she had accidentally shattered this cursed Jewel and how she came into contact with her archenemy Naraku. Reborn listened to it all, absorbing tales of youkai who committed acts so foul many Families would have been sickened and of youkai who put human counterparts to shame. He did not say a word, only feeling sick that Kagome had experienced such horror as watching youkai devour, rape, murder, and toy with humans and vice versa as humans turned on fellow humans. Her tales were told with a light heart, but Reborn had never been naïve enough to not see that her tale was colored red with her's and hundreds of others' blood. Reborn grew more than vaguely disgusted with InuYasha and how he had treated her during such trying times.

The side stories of Kaguya, Menomaru, Sounga, and Horai Island confirmed his disgust at InuYasha's repeated carelessness about Kagome's safety in favor of a dead treacherous woman. Reborn could not understand it; he firmly believed in cherishing the women in one's life and protecting them even if they did fight. However he knew better than to interrupt what had to be a difficult retelling, and soon enough she came to the Final Act. Kagome glossed over the battle, leaving much unsaid that Reborn knew she was not ready to relive, but when it came time to make a wish her voice grew bleak with grieving rage. "I had _promised_ InuYasha he would be the one to make the wish, and I gave it to him without a second thought. I thought he might wish Kikyo back or perhaps to be a full blooded youkai as he always wished to be, but I never thought InuYasha would do what he did. I had been planning on remaining in the Feudal Era, for I was unable to find a place in Tokyo at seventeen going on eighteen. I wasn't quite so civilized anymore, and I was not so innocent as I once was. I had killed thousands of youkai by that time, probably over a hundred of my own kind as well, and I couldn't stand being in Tokyo anymore. I love my family but I was suffocating as surely as if someone was holding a pillow to my face. My Will, which I had grown used to using to display my power to anyone and anything, almost suffocated my family as well under it's weight."

She frowned sadly. "I think InuYasha felt guilty over causing me to change so much that I was willing to leave my original timeline permanently, I don't know though for sure. All I do know was that he wished that the Shikon no Tama had never come into existence, and I woke up in a hospital as a fifteen year old me. No one else remembered anything, and I only barely managed to convince them it was residual damage left by my concussion when I questioned my family. After that, I came here to Namimori trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do. Before I went insane at being alone here in this time." Her smile returned as she gave him that heart stopping smile that should only be used after careful preparation by the recipient. "And then I found you guys."

Reborn blinked at her sincere joy, not knowing how to take being the cause of such radiant smiles, before voicing "I don't know how much I can believe Kagome, I have always been one who needs proof to believe." He cautioned her before adding "However I do believe you are telling the truth." Reborn felt the urge to find a pair of shades at such loving happiness that radiated from her and her Will in a blinding light, before he found himself being swept into a crushing hug. Face safely hidden, in a certain area he refused to acknowledge he was crushed into, Reborn let a light blush color his face. 'Somehow that missing time worked in my favor…' Reborn thought as Leon snickered at the two from the safety of the tree stump.


	10. Incalculable

Incalculable

A/N: Oh did I forget to mention Byakuran is going to pull an Onigumo on Kagome? Muahahaha.

* * *

Byakuran knew things. He knew a lot of things. A lot of things he should not know. He might have been better off if he did not know these things, but he did. He was the Boss of the Gesso Famiglia and was well on his way to creating the Millefiore and crushing the Vongola beneath his heel. Someday he was determined to personally thank Shoichi and the Bovino Family for causing his ability to see into various timelines and universes to surface. If Shoichi had not set off the Ten Years Bazooka's ammunition and visited him in the various futures…Byakuran shuddered to think of where he would have gone and what he might have become.

However despite caution shrieking that staying in Namimori for any amount of time was an unwise decision, Byakuran could not resist the urge to hide under the Vongola Decimo's very nose. It was a pleasure that was unique to the time you had so completely outfoxed your enemy, your enemy did not even know you existed until you were putting a bullet between their eyes. And Byakuran _reveled _in the feeling, unheeding to the voice of common sense that said he was simply trying to tempt Fate. But what could something as nebulous as Fate to _he_ Byakuran wondered. The white haired genius walked the streets of Namimori trying to understand what his instincts were screaming at him, not paying attention to his surroundings quite as well as he should have. What happened next caused an impact with an incalculable effect in the unstable man's already tottering psyche. Byakuran caught sight of a girl, younger than him by a bit, that burned with Will so unlike any he had come across ever before. An anomaly was walking only a few meters away, and she walked with his enemy Sawada Tsunayoshi and Reborn. "Kagome! Wait for me!" The young Vongola heir cried out and Byakuran smiled a sickening smile before disappearing into a side alley. He had a name.

* * *

Byakuran sighed as he nibbled on his delicious marshmallow. Tsunayoshi had been successfully assassinated finally and the Vongola were breaking apart without a Sky. Reborn was dead, and honestly he was surprised the Arcobaleno had held out so long after Kagome was declared Missing In Action then Killed In Action. The hitman, and indeed everyone in Vongola, had never been quite the same after the Primal Will bearer had vanished from the face of the Earth.

The Underworld had been rocked by violent and unrelentingly vicious crackdowns by the usually peaceful Vongola, once Kagome had disappeared, for over a year. Vendice had stepped in and had forced the Vongola to cease their violent retributions upon the Underworld before the Vongola ripped them all apart. Yet Vongola's Decimo had never returned to the naïve Boss he had been before, perhaps due to the fact he had failed to protect one so close to him. Reborn had taken it even worse than the Decimo, becoming increasing callous of his own life though he never once endangered his missions. Rumor had stated that the Decimo was the only thing that kept Reborn from purposefully marching to his death, somehow reigning in the Arcobaleno's self-destructive desires. Byakuran's spies had confirmed this, and had told him the damage caused by the Primal Will's disappearance ran far deeper in the Decimo Generation than just the two of them. He had not planned for that, it was an unexpected bonus in addition to getting what he had wanted.

Byakuran left the sweets and went down deep within the base to a place not even Shoichi knew of. Deep within the bowels of the earth he had carved out a secret room and no one, not even his Funeral Wreathes, knew of the hidden room. It was all quite high tech, verging on Over-Technology, and there was only one source of light in the room besides the flashing bits of technology. He gazed upon his ultimate prize over the Vongola with fond eyes, as he checked the ugly black tattoos that kept his prize in a comatose state. After all that the Vongola had done to find their missing Primal Will, they had never had cause to suspect Byakuran would kidnap the woman. He gazed upon the nearly naked figure with pride, she had on a breast band and women's boxers, for she was his now. Those tattoos that marred her flesh in ugly black swirls and patterns locked her mind into a permanent sleep were made from his condensed Will, leaving her Will to power his machines with their unmatched power. Byakuran wondered where Shoichi thought he got the ever abundant power from, because not even all his subordinates at once could match Kagome's Flamma output. Idly he traced the patterns on her peaceful face with a peaceful smile. Ironically all his best thinking was done in here as she seemed to listen to his rambling, causing him to refine his own thoughts and plans. Sometimes he thought he could hear the voice of the woman he had met the day he had kidnapped her responding, something that told him he was going too far across the line of sanity.

Byakuran grinned down at the woman and asked her sweetly "Kagome do you think the younger you will come with the Decimo and his Generation along with Reborn? It would be fun to see you alive again, even if you'd probably try and slap me silly for doing this to you instead of simply killing you. How angry do you think Tsunayoshi and Reborn will become when they hear just how they failed you? I can't wait until they get here…" He finished with a sadistic smile. Byakuran laughed at the thought of the Vongola's reactions when he made his big reveal. Indeed he could not wait for it all to begin.


	11. Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

A/N: The moment we've all been waiting for…Bazooka madness.

* * *

Were Kagome any other person she would be severely disturbed at finding an infant as attractive in the manner of a husband or lover. Well not sexually, she felt nothing at all for Reborn's current body, but intellectually and emotionally she did. Reborn was quite the terrifying individual, and she had no doubt this facet of him was toned down by being an infant, and sometimes he acted very similarly like Sesshomaru at his most sadistic and uncaring. Most would find this…unpleasant, but Kagome found that attractive since she had traipsed through the ages. She had been sought after by youkai, who barely if ever confined themselves to human morals or anything human, and she had seriously considered a suit or two from a few youkai. She no longer found most of humanity attractive in the manner of one seeking a lover, due to the fact much of humanity simply could not even _begin_ to compare to youkai males. Kagome had given up on seeking out anyone to fill such a role in her life after waking in a world void of the Shikon, but Reborn had potential she had never thought a human man would possess.

Even if it came out as elitist, Kagome had wanted a male with power or Will strong enough to match and hopefully exceed hers. She had wanted hopefully to have a partner and perhaps someone who could protect her, if it came to that. He would not have to be the most emotive male, she was used to InuYasha and Sesshomaru after all, but affection and love would have needed to be expressed _some_ way. Wealth was not a needed attribute, but Kagome was someone who could be content with very little or very much money. He would not even be needed to have knowledge of the supernatural. But Kagome had known that almost all, if not all outright, would be near impossible to find in a man that did not either exist on paper or in her dreams. She had resigned herself to living a very lonely life, for as long as she could stand it, before perhaps going insane. Then she had met Tsuna, someone who met many of her requirements yet was more suited to being a brother, and suddenly she had _options_ again. She doubted if even Reborn would understand just how very different a life she had lived before meeting her friends, both new and old. And Reborn seemed to fit the bill almost perfectly, despite Sesshomaru's rightfully earned title as the Killing Perfection nothing was perfect, and Kagome had set out to see if she could eventually come to love the man trapped in the baby. It had not taken long for her to see it was a resounding yes.

Kagome sought out Reborn along with Tsuna and his, now becoming her's as well, friends and learned about them all. Despite their oddities she knew she could never find another place she would be as content in. Happily she basked like a sunning cat in their Wills, feeling a peace she had not felt for some time since she knew someone of Sesshomaru's caliber was watching out for her. Perhaps why she had not noticed the cow-child Lambo coming until it was too late. Lambo had thrown a grenade at Reborn, who was on _her shoulder_, and Reborn had sent it flying back to Lambo. After the grenade had blown up in Lambo's face, an irritated Reborn began to teach Lambo it was very disrespectful to toss live grenades at ladies with a wailing Tsuna trying to stop their fight. Eventually Lambo had pulled a magenta bazooka from his afro, making Kagome ponder just what the Hell else could be inside that hair, and aimed it at himself as he sobbed from his wounds. However Reborn knocked the bazooka away as Lambo pulled the trigger, causing it to fire at a now thoroughly panicked Kagome. Tsuna and Reborn watched in a shocked manner as where Kagome once stood only a pink cloud remained. When the cloud cleared, their blood froze when an older Kagome did not stand there. Reborn clenched his small fists as Tsuna's eyes grew misty, for it meant in the future Kagome was _dead._ After five minutes had passed they cornered Lambo and confiscated the Bazooka, and Reborn called Talbot. Only the old man might know what had happened with the Bovino invention.

* * *

When the odd pink smoke cleared Kagome found herself in a room that was covered in extremely advanced technology, and what looked to be an indent in the wall that sported chains. Feeling a shiver go down her spine Kagome _knew_ that she needed to be far from the room within approximately eight minutes. Without pause she flew through the narrow corridor at blinding speeds until she busted through a wood door. Seeing a window she quickly checked to see how high up she was. She was only two floors up so she jumped out the window, using her Will to strengthen her legs in order to prevent breakage. 'Where is Tsuna and Reborn?' She thought with quiet panic. Without further ado she sped far, far away from the building until she hit the forest. Quickly she felt for Wills, searching for something familiar, until she felt Yamamoto's Will. With a relieved grin on her face she followed the Will, dodging past traps and what appeared to be a robot or two. When she saw the familiar figure she cried out happily "Yamamoto!" He spun around in a flash, a hand going to his sword until he saw who had called to him. He staggered in place, reeling at the shock and the emotions seeing the Past Kagome. She was unfazed by the fact he was now much older and said "Where are we?" He felt his throat tighten with grief, knowing how he had failed the vibrant woman before him, before smiling at her hesitantly "You are in the future Kagome. You need to come inside quickly. How did you get here anyways?" He continued his sentence in his mind 'After all you are dead in this time Kagome. Where did you pop up?'

She gave him an unconcerned shrug "Lambo pulled out a magenta bazooka and Reborn accidentally sent it my way after Lambo had pulled the trigger. Next thing I know I'm in some sort of room filled to bursting with incredibly advanced tech and I'm jumping out of a skyscraper." Yamamoto froze, and felt his heart threaten to shrivel into a dry husk. "Was the skyscraper with an emblem of a burning seal with two crossed flowers?" She blinked in surprise. "Nailed it Yamamoto." He reeled at the implications. Kagome had been alive all this time; only as Byakuran's prisoner. "We need to go inside Kagome. I need to brief you on the situation here." Yamamoto knew when his Family learned Kagome's true fate, there would be a bloodbath and he needed to prepare Past Kagome for what would occur.


	12. Duty

Duty

A/N: The next couple chapters will be highly Kagome-centric in order to explain…stuff. Don't forget to check out this one's poll!

Yamamoto looked at the Past Kagome with sad eyes as she sat down with a cup of tea in the Vongola hideout. She looked almost exactly the same as she had before she had been kidnapped, so much so it was hard to tell she was not twenty five now. Quietly she sipped her tea, and he almost questioned her ever unflappable exterior but he knew she had time traveled before much more extensively than ten years. Going to the past was much more dangerous after all, for one never knew if it had already happened by the time you were born or if you could set into motion a Butterfly Effect. Uneasily he cleared his throat, unsure as how to go about telling her just how bad it had gotten. "Yamamoto-" Quickly he interrupted her and requested "Takeshi please. We're Family after all." She gave him a familiar blinding smile that made him feel as though he had just hung the moon for her. "Takeshi what exactly has happened in this time? It's obvious something has gone wrong here." Takeshi sucked in a breath, reminded just how perceptive someone with all the inherent Will traits could be. "I will not lie to you Kagome, we're badly off. A Family called Millefiore is in the process of taking over the world, and they're succeeding. They're lead by a man called Byakuran and his second in command is Yuni. The Vongola is being beaten badly, and…Tsuna was assassinated just a few days ago. Along with Tsuna we lost Reborn. Millefiore have been pumping a radiation that's fatal to Reborn and the other Arcobaleno, and it's killing them one by one. We have nothing left to loose, except our remaining Family." Kagome looked sad at the news, but Takeshi noticed the light never left her eyes.

She gave him a sweet smile that eased his heart's grief at losing Tsuna. "Don't forget Takeshi, we're not done yet." She took a sip of her tea. "After all I will return to the past eventually, and this future could be erased completely. And if I'm not mistaken Tsuna will be rejoing us soon along with Reborn. The others will come as they will, especially Hibari and Mukuro." She smirked at the last bit, making the somber swordsman laugh as he had before her kidnapping. The sound rang inside the base, causing the Guardians that remained inside to come and investigate. "Baseball-idiot what the hell are you laughing about at this time?" "I want to know too to the extreme!" "Stop crowding herbivores." The three men entered inside, all wanting to know what had made the Rain so light once more, and were absolutely stunned to see who was sitting across from Takeshi drinking her tea. Kagome turned to them as she held her tea and smiled in greeting, making them unable to breathe at seeing this ghost. "Hello there Gokudera, Hibari, Ryohei. It's been awhile hasn't it?" While the two silver haired men were too stunned at the moment to do anything, Hibari was not and he was instantly by her side. He looked over her with desperate eyes, as though he thought she was an illusion, before bringing her into a crushing embrace. She was _alive_. He trembled as she returned his hug and started to hum, knowing that Hibari had thought her dead for several years until she proved their assumptions wrong. "Hello Hibari, how have you been?" Takeshi interrupted the Cloud's emotional turmoil with the quiet words "Kyouya this is Kagome from ten years ago." Startled, the Cloud Guardian reared back to look again at the woman he had missed as much as he now missed the baby and the omnivore.

She smiled at him and gave him a wink. "Takeshi's isn't lying. Sit with us please?" Stunned the trio of men gathered around the Primal Will bearer and listened to the story Takeshi relayed about how they had been fooled as to where the Future Kagome had been all this time. All the men somehow felt at seeing Kagome alive and happy to see them that they had not failed their duty to her after all. She was like Tsuna in that regard, or perhaps it was the reverse. Either way she was here to stay for now and the men were determined to stay _very_ close by. "Are you sure the others will come here from the past Kagome?" Hayato asked seriously. "Yes, this has been brewing for awhile, and since Tsuna destroyed your Rings it's possible this entire incident was engineered in order to bring the Vongola Rings back into existence. Though I'm happy to learn all of you have learned how to manifest your Will without them. Now let's make some plans. Who do we of the past need to watch out for, and what do we know of the enemy's ablities?" The men became serious as they found themselves responding to her leadership as they had eventually learned to in the past. Hayato produced paper and pens and began to compile a _very_ thorough list indeed, using Kyouya's information to augment what the Vongola had not known yet. Kagome looked over it and gave them a pleased smile and said "This is marvelous Hayato, Kyouya, Ryohei, Takeshi. Now we won't be going in blind at least. Oh I wanted to ask, what are those cubes, do you still have weapons, and who is Lal Mirch?"

They blinked a bit, unused to being questioned after so long unless it was Tsuna doing the questioning. Kyouya struck first. "These cubes are Box Weapons, Over Technology created hundreds of years ago that only now became feasible by accident or by someone else's hand. They are fashioned to run off Dying Will Flames specific to the color of the cubes, orange for Sky and so forth. Yours had to be specially created along with your weaponry since you're the only Primal Will in existence Kagome. And Lal Mirch is a member of CEDEF and one of our best fighters." He smirked at her and extended a hand to a still sitting Kagome, not startling the others since they remembered just how single-mindedly Kyouya had pursued the Primal Will before she had disappeared. "Alright, let's all go then!"


	13. Chances

Chapter Thirteen: Chances

A/N: My computer had an episode, that's all I'll say. Oh yeah...I might start looking for a beta soon...

Kyouya lead Kagome to the Vongola weapons storage without a word, though the silence felt like it was filled with sound. He wanted to gather the woman…no she was still a girl was she not, in his arms and never let her leave him again. With an almost alien look of softness in his eyes as he glanced at the smaller figure by his side, Kyouya fell prey to his memories.

When he had first met her, Kagome had enraged him beyond all measure by mocking his speed. She even had the gall to dodge around him like he was nothing more than a bumbling child and she had made him feel like that child too. Yet oddly enough, she had drawn him in like the hapless child with her actions just like the omnivore and the baby had done. Kagome continued to enrage him with her prowess in battle, beating him not by strength but by pure speed. Until that one day the baby had forced them all out to their usual mountainous training grounds, Kyouya had not regarded her other than another person to beat down into submission eventually. But then she had left with only the baby, leaving the rest of them with only a vaguely guilt glance before trotting off excitedly. Kyouya had felt something deep within his gut burn ferociously, but he had dismissed it as indigestion or the like. He regretted that dismissal more than anything in his life, for that day was likely the last chance he had had with the beautiful Primal.

As the years had rolled by, the Vongola and mafia eating more and more at their time, Kyouya had fought himself over his denial that he was _attracted _to Kagome. He constantly dismissed his reactions to her as nothing more than possessiveness over an excellent sparring partner, or that perhaps she was a friend, and refused to acknowledge the fact that Kagome was growing closer to the baby. Ironically the very day he managed to get over his counterproductive denial was the day Kagome went missing. He, like the others, had gone berserk that someone had managed to actually snatch such a high ranking member of the Tenth Generation that was at least a friend or a sister to many in the upper echelons of the Vongola. Regret had plagued him like a miasma that could not be blown away or washed off, regret that he had never managed to pull his head out of the sand quick enough to try and win her for himself. As the seasons rotated and the years rolled by all he could find to console himself with was the fact that while he had never managed to get over his denial quick enough, Reborn had never manned up enough to do anything in regards to the Primal.

Kyouya smirked a vicious smirk that would have seemed more appropriate on Squalo's face at the thought. Yes, his rival for Kagome's affections had never said a word to the woman regarding his feelings aside those of friendship. Kyouya could understand from an outsider's viewpoint as to perhaps why he would not. Reborn had had enemies too numerous to count, he still did before he died. Kagome could have been targeted by one of them, perhaps even killed. But what good had that done? Kagome had been kidnapped even as Reborn had 'kept her safe' by never speaking a word of how he felt. It had torn the hitman apart utterly, leaving Tsuna to pick up the pieces as best as the grieving Sky could. Kyouya had taken cold and bitter comfort in the fact that while he had never gotten a chance with Kagome neither had Reborn by his own choices. It was all that he had had, aside from memories to be drawn out from their hiding places when the nights grew too dark and too cold. Memories of Kagome were a balm to the wound that refused to heal during the years of Byakuran's systematic destruction of his world and Family. He looked at her again, drinking in the sight of her with disbelieving eyes for many illusionists had used her image to try and kill him before. It also brought to mind that the pineapple head Mukuro had never done so, strangely enough. Kagome had been, and still was, a very tender spot to prod for all of them.

Kyouya was shaken out of his reminiscence when Kagome looked at him and gave him a sweet smile. Idly he returned it, even though his lips barely quirked up from their usual frown, and it caused her to smile even more brilliantly. A predatory light entered his gray eyes as a devious thought occurred to him. It was unfair, highly underhanded, and something that Mukuro would admire but Kyouya was beyond caring. He had a chance to divert Kagome's affections, for he knew the past Reborn would never even _contemplate_ pursuing her despite however he felt. Kyouya opened the door to the weapons storage with an eerie grin on his face. Kyouya mused that at least he would have no regrets or thoughts on maybes and what ifs after this as he drew Kagome into a one armed hug. She let out a surprised 'meep', for he knew this was uncharacteristic of him, but…she did not object. He let out a hum of contentment, choosing not to care that Lal Mirch was regarding him with wide eyes and the others were going into shock. It was a good thing Tsuna was no longer able to hold him back. The herbivore would have halted his plan in it's tracks with that Intuition of his, and perhaps it would have been better if he had… but no matter. No one had known of his affections towards Kagome, nor of Reborn's, except the Sky and the Sky was gone beyond recall.

Kyouya smiled benevolently to the curious girl in his arms, making chills run down the other's spines. She would decide eventually, but it would not hurt if he showed her that he was capable of at least becoming a worthy lover. After all, it was her choice…


	14. Animal

Chapter Fourteen: Animal

A/N: Kagome's box animal is introduced! Rejoice! Now go vote on my poll!

Gokudera is so awkward to write... He's actually _worse_ than Byakuran! The insane maniac is easier to write! How twisted eh?

PS: For those who follow me, Partners? and Rem. is going to be next on the updating list! That's right! I will wade though the emo! I will quit wussing out, and writing humor, and actually do it!

PSS: Our favorite red haired scientist will be featured next time!

* * *

Gokudera Hayato had known Hibari Kyouya for a very long time now. A little over a decade since the first time Kyouya had pounded him into the ground mercilessly with those tonfa of his. Hayato might not be _close_ to the prickly Cloud but he did know him; he knew everyone. It was his job after all.

The former Namimori prefect was a brutal, animalistic, bloodthirsty, berserker. Sure Hayato could point out that Kyouya was usually cooler than the Arctic, but at his core Kyouya was a die-hard battle-crazed man. Kyouya did not do _affection_, not as such as most would understand, and he most certainly did not _hug_ anyone. Yet he just had done those things and more, all to Kagome to boot. Kagome, the woman he had brawled with a certain savage joy up till her kidnapping. This threw Hayato for a loop, for he was not supposed to drop the ball on noticing such important matters. He shared a look with Takeshi, the baseball-idiot, which communicated their shared worry. Kyouya was looking at Kagome in a way that raised their hackles. It was a look Reborn would have skinned and stuffed Kyouya for, if the Arcobaleno was still around instead of wherever they went when Mafioso died. Hayato looked at Kagome, who was smiling that smile that made his heart clench at how similar it was to Jyuudaime's, and knew she did not register how dangerous Kyouya could be if provoked.

Hayato watched with sharp eyes as Lal Mirch introduced herself to Kagome and showed the girl how to summon forth her Box Weapon. Her eyes sparkled in a way that would have made Jyuudaime smile, something Hayato wished he was still around to do. The future would not look so dark and bleak with his Boss by their side, but Jyuudaime was still alive…in the past. Hayato watched along with Takeshi, even Ryohei had clued in and was watching, as Kyouya's eyes seemed to _warm_ as he regarded the small feminine figure. Hayato shot Takeshi another look that told the swordsman to watch the dangerous Cloud, and turned his attention to the opalescent Box in Kagome's hand. No one knew what resided within, for Kagome had been kidnapped before their manufacturing. He watched as Kagome produced her Will, and watched as a portion of it went into the Box. The Box began to shine with it's light and the Box began to transform. A coughing roar shattered the air as the biggest lion he had ever seen in his life knocked Kagome to the floor, and began to lick her cheek with it's enormous tongue. Hayato's genius brain ground to a halt as he saw the lion was easily ten feet in length, tail included, and that it would easily stand on all fours at five foot one. The lion, a he, was gray colored with an ocher tinting and possessed a primitive ruff of a mane. It fit only one feline Hayato knew of. This lion was a member of _Panthera leo spelaea_; a Eurasian Cave Lion.

How it was possible for Kagome's Box Weapon to be a animal of an extinct species, Hayato had no guess except Verde might have had a bought of ironic humor. A primal member of the _Panthera_ genus for the only Primal Will in existence. Ironically fitting, Hayato thought to himself in the private confines of his own mind. He looked at the younger Kagome with exasperated eyes as she cooed to her lion and began to scratch it's tuffed ears. The unnamed male let out a growling purr that shook the air and melted onto the squished Kagome.

"Oomph! Silly lion! Get off! You're squishing me!" The lion seemed to give her a playful look to Hayato's discerning eyes, but he allowed Kagome back to her feet. She looked at the lion with focused eyes, sparing no one so much as a smidgen of her attention. The lion stared back with just as much focus, and Primal Will suddenly appeared on his paws and in his mane as he gave a coughing roar before bowing his head to Kagome. She smiled a victorious smile and rubbed the lion's head with no thought for the sharp teeth, unlike Hayato. Hayato came to the conclusion Kagome had proven her dominance to the lion.

"You need a name…How about Tyr? I'm pretty sure that's a God of War, or something close…" The lion nodded before butting his head against her as he demanded attention, something Kagome gladly gave. Hayato noticed Kyouya give her another smile before leaving, and Hayato left as well with the others following behind. Kagome stayed, likely to bond with her new partner. Hayato sighed and wished that the past Reborn would get here soon; playing guard was such a drag. Hayato turned a corner as he saw Takeshi wave him over, presumably to discuss Kyouya's actions. Ryohei was with the baseball-idiot too. "God's blood. Reborn why on Earth aren't you here yet? Or better yet, Jyuudaime? Then I wouldn't be stuck with being a guard dog against the Cloud." Hayato addressed the ceiling in exasperation, before turning to go to the waiting duo. Kyouya would not wait so he made his way over to the duo, wishing he had a cigarette the entire time.


	15. Hold

Hold

A/N: Yeah stuff is slow on updating since school is trying to give me heart attacks, but I'm still chugging along. Rem. and Partners? won't be up for awhile due to school and the fact Partners was spontaneous(i.e. no plotline made) plus the fact the chapter I had for Rem. is actually non-feasible!

Now say hello to our latest character!

* * *

Irie Shoichi liked to think he operated best under pressure. The more pressure, the more brilliant ideas his mind would churn out in self-preservation. Unfortunately Irie Shoichi suffered devastatingly chronic stomach pains when he was too anxious or too stressed, which made the above a little counterproductive. Byakuran often was amused to see his so called Sun Mare churning out unbelievably brilliant and intuitive ideas while looking like he needed to be rushed to a hospital for a stomach pumping. Today was one of those days Irie had _known_ that he would regret ever even thinking of leaving his nice, soft, fluffy bed. It had started well enough; smooth sailing, clear skies, and any other metaphor or allusion anyone wished to use. Then Byakuran had sent him a very polite email saying there had been a minor setback that would permanently reduce his Flamma power by about fifty to sixty percent. Irie had instantly written a deeply distraught and puzzled email in return, asking if there was anyway to fix it. Byakuran had then sent him a bit of a puzzle.

"The only way the Flamma output will be the same Shoichi, is if you can find another way to effectively combine all Sky Flames to maximum efficiency and maximum output. I'm afraid our Crucible is no longer available for use, the Family I borrowed it from reclaimed it this morning."

Irie had thought and thought to no avail. He could only postulate that if he could make an artificial Sky Crucible to effectively mix and merge all the various Flames converted into Flamma energy, by utilizing the Harmonizing aspect of Sky Flames, it could replace whatever Byakuran had been using. The very idea brought to mind Kagome, the only person to have been recorded to have Primal Flames, who had successfully utilized all seven aspects of all seven Sky Flames. Irie had not known the woman well, for she was always on the road to do something. What that something was no one had known, not even Tsuna who seemed to be the closest thing to a brother she had. He knew she had had an existing blood family consisting of a brother and mother, but she had been very distant at best according to her profile. Irie paused in typing, struck by the oddity of Byakuran possessing an extremely detailed profile on a woman confirmed as Killed In Action, before moving on. He had to reroute power from extraneous projects and facilities, in order to make up for this power reduction, as soon as possible. It took him over an hour, the repetition of typing soothing his anxiety as he worked. Even Spanner's email, complaints about the sudden power shortage, could not bother the excitable redhead. Time passed for the scientist without much note, nothing really disturbing the working trance he had succumbed to. Byakuran did swing by for a few moments, asking if any important projects had been possibly damaged by the sudden power cut, before sauntering off in what looked to be marshmallow-seeking mode.

It took Irie some time before he was able to sneak off to the machine he had created for the Vongola Decimo to both warp time and to store the bodies of the current Generation. He had to be stealthy and covert, for he never knew who was watching his movements. When he finally entered the room, Irie Shoichi dropped the cup of coffee he had been clutching like it was the lifeline to his sanity. The redhead never noticed the cup shattered into hundreds of porcelain shards or that the black liquid was spreading all over the floor, for he was riveted to the sight of the woman who lay in tranquil repose on the floor. Irie could not tear his sight from the woman whose hair looked like spilled ink upon the floor, easily waist length, who smiled like one who had only known pleasant dreams. With unsteady feet Irie stumbled over to the woman, finally collapsing to his knees by the sleeping smiling woman. Upon her snow white skin was sinister black swirls, patterns, and markings. Not an inch of the woman's skin was unmarked by the vile paint, and Irie chocked on the innumerable emotions clogging his throat. For he knew this woman, this dead woman.

"Kagome…Oh God…" Irie felt sick. He had never known exactly what Byakuran wanted with the Primal, but he had known that the man had suddenly become obsessed with tattoos that potentially could serve the same purpose as Vendice's prison. Byakuran had _personally_ conducted the research and experimentation of the idea of using tattoos to suppress the Will, the mind, and the body. It was unprecedented then and it still was now. Byakuran had eventually deemed the so called Project Prometheus, after the eternally chained Titan, a failure and had completely erased the project from existence. Byakuran had cited it a failure due to the fact once the tattoos were inked with Will into the recipient's skin, they would never wake again. Nothing would wake those who received the aptly named SIA Curse, Somnus in Artus (i.e. Sleep in Limbo), and all that the resident telepaths could say was that the Curse suppressed the consciousness so deeply it was likened to a never-ending dream for the recipient. The telepaths had refused to speak of what the sleeping dreamers dreamed, only murmuring in a faint susurrus

"In their minds' they dream of how everything they regretted and felt sorrow for was righted. They live utterly within a true utopia. A perfect world that is at the same time nowhere." The smiles upon the tattooed recipients had sickened Irie, but the utterly serene smile on Kagome's face drove that feeling home once more.

"Byakuran had you the whole time…and you were the Crucible he had spoken of!" Irie felt even sicker, feeling tears sliding down his cheeks as he quietly sobbed for the woman, but these feelings were redundant. The one who stirred these retched feelings was long gone from recall, and the best way to serve the woman who he had unknowingly exploited was to find an extra stasis pod for her. Irie picked up the woman as he stood in the old standby bridal hold, and walked them to the extra pod he had built in case there was a complication with one of the other pods. Gently he had settled the dreaming woman into the cradle of the pod, that softly dreamy smile never leaving her serene face. As the pod closed silently he was reminded sadly of a coffin, but as only a crack remained he heard a softly melodious voice ring out in the softest susurrus of a sleeping dreamer.

"Reborn…Tsuna…Bya-" The pod slid close with a soft hiss, leaving Irie feeling as if he had just buried a old ghost from lore. A ghost who was eternally dreaming within the never-ending gray of Limbo…


	16. Every You And Every Me

Chapter Sixteen: Every You and Every Me

A/N: Our favorite Orchid is back and is here to enlighten us as to how he caught Kagome! And honestly school is being a pain so I'm distressing…

* * *

Byakuran had made his way below to the room that was once the housing area of one Higurashi Kagome. He knew she was not there, neither the past nor the present Kagome, but to be frank she had not been in there for quite some time. At least not in spirit, if in body. Yet Byakuran had to trace his steps back to that hidden room deep within the earth, despite knowing she was not there or perhaps doing so for exactly that reason. He had long ago ceased to try and apply logic to his relationships with Kagome or anything to do with Kagome.

Byakuran eventually came to the room filled with what seemed to be Over Technology, with it's empty chains hanging in their indent forlornly. Byakuran's ever present smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown, something that would have sent Shoichi into a fainting fit. The room had never been personalized in any way; it ignited no feelings of any sort in Byakuran's mind. Somehow though it seemed emptier, quieter, and confining now that Kagome's soft breathing did not intermingle with the whirring and humming of the machines. Had this been caused by any other person's vanishing Byakuran would have felt puzzled, but this was Kagome so Byakuran did not feel any puzzlement as to why his perception of the room was altered. In his, glorious, insanity Byakuran had managed to cobble together some sort of twisted, bastardized affection for the very woman who he had basically murdered. He knew Kagome always managed to affect him; every Byakuran could not help but be affected by every Kagome. It was like the multiverse had made it a rule, immutable and eternal to boot. But Byakuran had long ceased to wonder at it; finally just accepting no matter where a Byakuran was, a Kagome would do something so insignificant that was so significant that a Byakuran could not help but chase after her.

Byakuran knew in the first future Shoichi had seen, he and Kagome had actually gotten together. Those two versions of them had found someone they could love, even if the entire world could not help but hate them for being so perfectly happy with each other when they crushed the world in their shared grip. Sometimes they were just best friends, skirting so close on the edge of _everything_; those were normal and powerless Byakuran and Kagome versions. Though Byakuran tried very, very, _very_ hard to pretend that many a Byakuran had not met many a Kagome in a hospital for the insane as a general practitioner, the transparent memories of half crazed stories of demons and jewels haunted him in a way that nothing else ever did. Byakuran always found Kagome and always became involved with Kagome in some way somehow. It was now reassuring, like the fact one knows the apple will _always_ fall back down, and it had quickly become a way to judge what the parallel world he looked at was like.

In this reality Byakuran had met Kagome years after he had first seen her, had desired to own her and everything to her. Strangely enough, she had known _exactly_ what lay under the smiling mask and had never once suggested he change; she had accepted Byakuran as he was, faults and all. Byakuran could not fathom if that was the day she had made him love her for effortlessly accepting him as is, or if he despised her for experiencing the same temporal and spatial quirks Fate had thrown at him and had stayed sane whereas he had not. Much like his psychotic need to dominate then _destroy_ the world, Byakuran's obsession with the Primal entered into a destructive downwards spiral until a psychotic break threatened at the thought of Kagome not belonging wholly to him. If he could not have Kagome, then there would not _be_ a Kagome to not be his. Even odder was the fact Kagome did not care. In fact she had confessed while intoxicated, enough to fell even a Blue Whale, that she perversely _anticipated_ the day he would finally crack and proceed to do his damnedest to snatch her away. Drunkenly she had slurred to an equally sugar-high Byakuran that her entire life was in a repeating rut of falling in love with someone would did not return her affections on top of the feeling of being an extraneous accessory.

It was then Byakuran finally slipped loose of the tight noose of control he placed about himself and initiated Project Prometheus.

When Byakuran had reached the pinnacle of the SIA Curse that could safely be engraved upon the body without causing death, he arranged with Kagome to meet in a tiny nondescript town in the middle of Southern Africa while Kagome was supposed to be vacationing in Hawaii. They had had icy drinks, he could no longer recall what the drinks were, before he had given her a smile which she had returned. They had proceeded to the outskirts of town, and had drawn their respective weapons with excited smiles on their faces. They were _breaking free of the cycle_. Byakuran beat Kagome after thirty-six hours of non-stop fighting, guerilla attacks, and flat out running after the speedy vixen. Never had he felt more accomplished, despite having many more impressive victories under his belt in this reality alone. With all the care of something like a brother mixed with a best friend and a lover, Byakuran had carried her to the plane back to Japan without letting her limp form leave his arms.

When they had arrived, he had taken her straight to the room deep within the earth. He had pulled out an obscenely expensive paintbrush and ink made from ground onyx and had started the painstaking process of painting his Will infused ink onto her skin. Once she had stated that if she was going to get a tattoo - Kagome had been drunk during this- then she would damn well go the most highly praised tattoo artist and get something that was obscenely expensive and was _quality_. She would never know it but her drunken statement was fulfilled; Byakuran was the best, had paid for the most expensive tools and inks, and had slaved over her SIA like nothing else he had _ever_ done. Two days later he emerged from the uninterrupted forty-eight hours of tattooing. Kagome never woke up once during the entire time, and she never did again afterwards.

Byakuran shook himself free from his memories and gave the room one last look before leaving. He carefully closed and locked the door behind him. He would not be coming back to this room again in this reality.


	17. Door

Chapter Seventeen: Door

A/N: Yeah… My computer was broken until three weeks ago, then my grandmother had a heart attack and then I had exams… So I'm back now!

Reborn was not pleased. Not at all. Neither was Tsuna. Needless to say, since Kagome had vanished into the future, tension had slowly been building for the two males. They snapped uncharacteristically at the smallest things and constantly looked as though someone had shot their dog right in front of them. No one understood why the student and tutor were so frustrated since the duo refused to speak about Kagome's disappearance until Reborn got word of what the old inventor knew. Tsuna had taken the burn of frustration the worse since he had never had anyone close to him go missing, unlike Reborn. The gentle and shy soul that everyone adored vanished and left in his place a ticking time bomb of rabid anger and aggression. Due to his inexperience at handling these feelings, Reborn had been forced to order Yamamoto and Gokudera to ride herd on their best friend. The infant hitman knew it was only a matter of time until Tsuna's self-restraint snapped, but he hoped that the Rain and Storm together could postpone the explosion long enough for the inventor to respond.

As the next few days passed Reborn knew Tsuna was hanging onto his control by a fraying thread despite his best efforts, as was Reborn's own control. Reborn was not used to not achieving his goals when he bent all his will to the task, and Tsuna was not accustomed to being forced to wait for such important news when it did not pertain to his errant father. It was a volatile combination since they both relied on the other to a surprising amount for a student and his teacher, but neither knew how to alleviate the other's justified worry when they themselves could not put aside their own emotions as they would usually do. Soon enough the only company they could tolerate was each other, even Nana had been brushed with their scathing emotions.

"Reborn… The Ten Year Bazooka is what sent Kagome into the future, so can we use it on ourselves to find Kagome?" Reborn blinked solemnly at Tsuna's tense question, feeling his idiotic plot alarms going off.

"It's possible Dame-Tsuna, but we shouldn't do that." Tsuna nodded sharply before stating

"I'm going to go find Hibari Reborn, do you mind if I use my pills and gloves?"

Reborn knew his surprise was naked upon his face before he nodded. Tsuna must be even more tightly wound than he had thought if he was willingly going out to fight Hibari. If Tsuna did not find a way to relax soon Reborn knew he would do something he would later regret, but Reborn knew in this case there was nothing to relax with under this tension. Not even a good cappuccino relaxed him anymore. When Reborn was certain Tsuna had left the house, he pulled out the Bazooka that had started this whole debacle and thought about what Tsuna had asked. Could they use it to find their missing Primal? Should they? Reborn could not tell, so he asked Leon what he thought. The chameleon told the hitman to give the Bazooka back to the cow-child and let things happen as they happened. Having no other ideas on what to do Reborn did as the chameleon had suggested before heading out to find Tsuna.

Not five minutes later the hitman found his student being held back by his subordinates as he furiously commanded that they let him find Hibari. Reborn hopped onto Yamamoto's shoulder and said nothing, only watching as Gokudera began to wilt under his Boss' demands as his eagerness to serve started to undermine his better sense. Suddenly the prefect appeared, growling questions as to why they disturbed the peace of Namimori, and the wail of Lambo pierced though the clamor.

"Wahahaha! Today is the day I shall kill the number one hitman, Reborn!" Hibari took offense to this interruption of his interrogation and wacked Lambo on the head with a tonfa. The cow-child began to sob and took out the Bazooka from his afro, and Hibari hit the cow-child again. Time seemed to slow down to Reborn as the Bazooka fell to the ground, Tsuna broke free of his friends' restraints, and a shell was launched at Tsuna. The infant hitman jumped onto Tsuna's head and watched as the infamous pink smoke surrounded them.

Leon had been right. Serendipity had intervened and had sent them on their way.


End file.
